US House approves ban on taxpayer funding for abortion

The US House of Representatives has passed a comprehensive ban on the use of taxpayer funds to pay for abortions.

The “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act,” approved on May 4 by a 251- 176 vote, would make permanent the ban on public funding for abortion known as the “Hyde Amendment,” which now requires annual renewal. The bill would bar the use of federal funds to pay for abortions under the new national health-care plan. The legislative also includes a “conscience clause,” preserving the right of health-care workers to refuse to be involved in abortions.

The proposed bill was passed by the House on a mostly partisan vote, with every Republican member supporting the legislation and Democrats opposing it by a 175- 16 margin. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is Catholic, argued against the bill and especially against the conscience clause.

The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act now moves to the Senate, where analysts expect that it will be defeated.

Of the 125 Catholic lawmakers who voted on the bill in the House, 60 supported it (all 60 Republicans and 8 Democrats), and 57 Catholic—all of them Democrats--opposed it.